Captain Sam's
It was a slower day out at Captain Sam’s but at least we did not have to worry about the bobcat since she was hanging out at Beachwalker Park this morning. This allowed us to let the nets sit and catch birds instead of constantly walking the net lanes to prevent her from taking any birds. We ended with 41 new birds and 14 recaptures of 16 species. We also caught another Least Flycatcher, which we do not catch many of during the fall.
The highlight of the day was surprisingly a recaptured Common Yellowthroat. Paul took it out of the bag and noticed it was banded on the left leg. We usually band all our birds on the right leg unless it has an old break or injury on its right. There was no noticeable injury to its right leg and the band looked more worn than a bird we would have banded recently. The band number also struck me as a band we have not used this year at either site and being a hatch-year bird meant it must have been banded at another location. Only a few banding stations band all their birds on the left leg, a former KIBS assistant bander is worker at one of these stations, Forman's Branch Bird Observatory at the Chester River Field Research Station in Chestertown, Maryland. I contacted her about the band number and it happened to be one they banded! We do not catch many birds banded from other banding stations so it was very exciting!
This is one reason banding and banding data is so
important. When banded birds are captured from somewhere else, their movements and
migration path can be mapped. Recovered bands also help in locating specific
nesting and wintering sites for birds, along with migration connectivity. Since
this particular Common Yellowthroat was a hatch-year bird, it was probably
migrating south along the coast because after-hatch-year birds tend to take a
more inland migration route. Captain’s Sam’s was one of this Common
Yellowthroat’s stopover sites on its way south to its wintering grounds so maybe it is a sign of good stopover habitat.
You can check out the Chester River Field Research
Station on Facebook at https://facebook.com/CRFRC/ or Instagram at http://instagram.com/chesterriverfieldresearch. You can also check out their website at http://www.washcoll.edu/centers/ces/crfrs/.
It was a slower day out at Captain Sam’s but at least we did not have to worry about the bobcat since she was hanging out at Beachwalker Park this morning. This allowed us to let the nets sit and catch birds instead of constantly walking the net lanes to prevent her from taking any birds. We ended with 41 new birds and 14 recaptures of 16 species. We also caught another Least Flycatcher, which we do not catch many of during the fall.
The highlight of the day was surprisingly a recaptured Common Yellowthroat. Paul took it out of the bag and noticed it was banded on the left leg. We usually band all our birds on the right leg unless it has an old break or injury on its right. There was no noticeable injury to its right leg and the band looked more worn than a bird we would have banded recently. The band number also struck me as a band we have not used this year at either site and being a hatch-year bird meant it must have been banded at another location. Only a few banding stations band all their birds on the left leg, a former KIBS assistant bander is worker at one of these stations, Forman's Branch Bird Observatory at the Chester River Field Research Station in Chestertown, Maryland. I contacted her about the band number and it happened to be one they banded! We do not catch many birds banded from other banding stations so it was very exciting!
 |
Foreign Recap Common Yellowthroat
from Chestertown, Maryland (hatch-year, sex unknown)
|
-Michael
Little Bear
Despite continuing south winds overnight, we still had a decent day out at Little Bear with 87 new birds and 14 recaptures. Common Yellowthroats continue to be our most caught bird, and we're still seeing quite a few Gray Catbirds.
-Hannah
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (LB)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
Little Bear
Despite continuing south winds overnight, we still had a decent day out at Little Bear with 87 new birds and 14 recaptures. Common Yellowthroats continue to be our most caught bird, and we're still seeing quite a few Gray Catbirds.
 |
| House Wren (hatch-year) - we've been seeing a few more House Wrens around lately |
 |
| Yellow Warbler (hatch-year, sex unknown) - another common warbler |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Least Flycatcher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
"Traill's" Flycatcher
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
White-eyed Vireo
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
14
|
1
|
4
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
-
|
2
|
1
|
-
|
House Wren
|
1
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
4
|
Veery
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
5
|
3
|
8
|
2
|
Brown Thrasher
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Yellow-breasted Chat
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Ovenbird
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
1
|
-
|
7
|
1
|
Black-and-white Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
7
|
3
|
31
|
5
|
American Redstart
|
1
|
-
|
5
|
-
|
Yellow Warbler
|
2
|
-
|
4
|
-
|
Black-throated Blue Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
4
|
-
|
| Palm Warbler (western) | 3 | - | 2 | - |
| Prairie Warbler | 1 | - | 4 | - |
| Northern Cardinal | - | - | 2 | - |
| Indigo Bunting | - | - | 1 | - |
| Painted Bunting | 1 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
41
|
87
|
128
|
| # of Recaptures |
13
|
14
|
27
|
| # of Species |
16
|
21
|
24
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
135.2
|
104.0
|
239.2
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
39.9
|
97.1
|
64.8
|
| # of Nets |
26
|
20
|
46
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (LB)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
